The AF9 was outta control with volume boosts and forced filtering making a what appears to be a flexible pedal a 1 trick pony = lead

The WR3 sucked. The mix mode mixed the filtered signal with what sounded like a guitar signal with the tone pot rolled off. YUCK!

The BOYC DOD440 clone is more subtle and great with chords but almost transparent with solos. But that's not always a bad thing! Did a Feel Like Dynamite solo with it on and it added something very special!!!

Next up is the Emma Discumbobulator which touts having no tonal or volume changes plus no forced hi/low/band tone filtering...

I recently purchased it, so I really have not dialed in the entire spectrum of what it can do. That being said I have found the sweet spot and can tell you it is heavenly!! I keep the Envelope amount around 6, switch on smooth, Mix at 10, Filter cutoof a little over 250, and the resonance at 7, with the filter switch on 2 pole for a bit brighter sound. These settings really can get you a smooth natural sounding filter ala shakedown and FOTM. It just sounds so natural, ulike alot of EF's that seem to have such a forced wah sound. It's real hard to describe it, but the best way I can put it is it sounds like the guitar wants to make that autowah sound as opposed to some pedals that force themselves upon the tone and clarity of the guitar.

The downside-It is not true bypass, and even worse is there is a drive knob that must be turned up enough to trigger the envelope. Furthermore this drive kob is active even when the pedal is bypassed. Fear not, the solution is simple enough. You can keep the drive level very low so long as you have a signal boost or compression pedal in front of it in the chain. Simply activate the comp/signal boost and it basically will perform the function of the drive knob, thus allowing you to keep it very low so as not to drastically alter the overall tone. Optimally you would want touse a bypass with it. I can't wait to really get creative and hook up a couple expression pedals to it. You can literally run 4 expression pedals into it, one for cutoff, envelope, mix, and resonance. I'm certain it is absolutely ridiculous how versatile it can really be.

Overall I think it is the best Envelope filter on the market. I give it an 8 just for the hassle of it not being true bypass. Used with a bypass it is most definately a 10.

Wow this is the pedal I've needed for some time. It's got a very large range with phenomenal tonal possibilities. It's almost mind bogggling. The 3 little knobs interact so intuitively it's a breeze and you almost want to overthink it. But the reality is that it's just that good.

I only have 1 fear with this pedal - I'd wanna diddle with the knobs all day and explore all the different sounds instead of just setting it and jamming away!

This pedal keeps your volume the same and keeps your tone the same but introduces a beautiful filtered effect that seems to just compliment beautifully what you are playing!

And it stacks nicely.

I use pedals sparingly so all my settings are more subtle than many. Here is my line-up (controlled by GCX):

EQ > Emma Disc > Barber LTD SR > PH-350

(the EQ is used for bringing up my volume when tapping my dual coils to singles and get some low-mids back, also gave it a bit more high end so it can also be an effective solo boost)

Everything sounded great with any combination. The Emma loved the EQ boost. drove the OD pedal nicely since the volume is not all drastic and peaky, played nicely with the phaser just adding to depth and richness.

Wow people. This is it!

Finally. After 10 years I have my pedal-board. I've gone from cheap pedals, to boss pedals, to solid state amps, to modellors to tube amps to single botique pedals and finally this pedal completed what I needed.

(of course you know a delay is coming one day... but no rush)

Last edited by strumminsix on Sun May 06, 2007 5:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I did try the MudderFugger LP Filter. The Moog seemed to have potential but I had a hard time dialing it in in the time available to me... so many controls. And I wasn't testing it on my own rig... maybe not even my own guitar. Did not realize it wasn't TB. Would love to try it with the expression pedals though!

That is the really rad thing about all of the MoogerFooger line is all those jacks! Every option under the sun. The Phaser is really excellent. That MuRF pedal is total craziness! I'd like to hook one of those up to the Moog theremin ...and from there into an Xotic Robotalk. That could get kinda weird...

The EMMA is, as Nick described, probably the easiest-to-tweak of all the envelopes. No brainer.

Well, I just picked up an Emma to compare against my original III and Q. I'd have to say, at this point (3 hours of ownership of Emma), that I would actually go with the Q. Emma seems to, at times, accentuate the highs, almost ice-pickish, while the Q stays warm despite how hard I pick. Granted, maybe I haven't given Emma enough time (like Strummin above - I fould myself for the first 2 hours continually tweaking the 3 knobs) but the Q was dialed in almost immediately. What Emma settings are people using out there? I want to give it the thumbs up but am hesitant at this point (FWIW - I am going for a full rounded envelope ala late 80s early 90s - not too soft).

BayAreaBB wrote:Well, I just picked up an Emma to compare against my original III and Q. I'd have to say, at this point (3 hours of ownership of Emma), that I would actually go with the Q. Emma seems to, at times, accentuate the highs, almost ice-pickish, while the Q stays warm despite how hard I pick. Granted, maybe I haven't given Emma enough time (like Strummin above - I fould myself for the first 2 hours continually tweaking the 3 knobs) but the Q was dialed in almost immediately. What Emma settings are people using out there? I want to give it the thumbs up but am hesitant at this point (FWIW - I am going for a full rounded envelope ala late 80s early 90s - not too soft).

Thanks,BLB

Wow, my tone was very consistent with the Emma. I'm wondering if possibly your tone is already on the border of being ice picky with the highs?

My settings are pretty much all around 2 o'clock and I use humbuckers.

FTR, my hours of tweaking were not looking for a good tone but of exploring all the possibilities. I found great usable tones at most twists but only a few spots that were good for "set it and forget it" and that's with all 3 around 2 o'clock.

I use an Electro Harmonix Q-Tron. I live in Kansas City where we have a Musicians Freind Clearance Center. The always have tables full of busted or slightly damaged pedals. This one I got for a scant 50$ because the tag said it didnt work. I plugged the correct power supply into it and it fired right up. So I avoided sharing this information with a sales associate and bought it right away. A year later and its still in my signal path.

I find it to be well voiced and responsive to various subtleties in my playing. There are way too many options for shaping the sound. Only 1 setting speaks to me, but it's the ONE setting that I need an envelope filter for. My only gripe is its large size.

I use a reissue Mutron...Great sound real smooth peaks. I can capture the Estimated sound. After a few beers I get carried away and space into Jerry land...the band has to kick me in the shin to pull me out!

Vol. Knob wrote:I use an Electro Harmonix Q-Tron. I live in Kansas City where we have a Musicians Freind Clearance Center. The always have tables full of busted or slightly damaged pedals.

HA! A couple of years ago I was working at an electronics repair shop, and a kid brought in two Line 6 pedals that he had bought at that Clearance Center in KC, a DL-4 and maybe an FM-4 or MM-4... anyway, he thought he could have them repaired under warranty... after buying them broken for $10 apiece! Sorry kid.

I use an EH mini Qtron. I dig it. Very very close to the Mu. Bit of a one trick pony, but thats what I want. I dont want it getting all bitchy and quacky on me. I need those greasy Jerry boowow bowow sounds. A little overdrive and different playing style and it gets very nice funky zappa type balls out solos.
I put a compressor before it to keep it in check a bit, but lately I havent always done that.
If lost or stolen, Id probably get the micro Qtron, because they have some nerver calling this thing "mini"

Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is the best.- the girl from the bus

Wow this is the pedal I've needed for some time. It's got a very large range with phenomenal tonal possibilities. It's almost mind bogggling. The 3 little knobs interact so intuitively it's a breeze and you almost want to overthink it. But the reality is that it's just that good.

I only have 1 fear with this pedal - I'd wanna diddle with the knobs all day and explore all the different sounds instead of just setting it and jamming away!

This pedal keeps your volume the same and keeps your tone the same but introduces a beautiful filtered effect that seems to just compliment beautifully what you are playing!

And it stacks nicely.

I use pedals sparingly so all my settings are more subtle than many. Here is my line-up (controlled by GCX):

EQ > Emma Disc > Barber LTD SR > PH-350

(the EQ is used for bringing up my volume when tapping my dual coils to singles and get some low-mids back, also gave it a bit more high end so it can also be an effective solo boost)

Everything sounded great with any combination. The Emma loved the EQ boost. drove the OD pedal nicely since the volume is not all drastic and peaky, played nicely with the phaser just adding to depth and richness.

Wow people. This is it!

Finally. After 10 years I have my pedal-board. I've gone from cheap pedals, to boss pedals, to solid state amps, to modellors to tube amps to single botique pedals and finally this pedal completed what I needed.

(of course you know a delay is coming one day... but no rush)

I would agree very much. After much deliberation, I decided to plunk down the $$ for an Emma after being frustrated too many times by my HAZ Mu-tron III. And I am here to say - it blows it out of the water. I am VERY happy with the purchase of the DiscomBOBulator, I just wish I had done it sooner. I was also pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive it was for such a great pedal - got it for $187.50 from musictoys. Thanks to all who encouraged the purchase, and for all those looking, I highly recommend it.

Play music, expand the mind, inspire...

"We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey" - Japanese poet Kenji Miyazawa